caulfield12

QUOTE(fathom @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 10:45 AM) Sox only have good attendance for one reason: winning. I don't see how keeping guys that won't be on the team next year for the entire season will help our ticket sales for next year, etc. Let's face it....we have a ton of bandwagon fans. I love bandwagon fans in baseball more than any sport, because attendance dictates payroll in baseball more than any other sport. What are people going to perceive is happening when we lose Buehrle, Dye, and Iguchi this offseason and replace them with Rowand and a couple of middle-of-the-road players? The 2008 situation has been looming for a few years now, and I just hope KW is more focused on rebuilding this team for the next 5 years instead of trying to fool people that they have a legitimate chance in 2007 or 2008. Even in CLE, which had about a 5 year run of sellouts at Jacobs Fields, that sell-off in 2002/03 (and to a lesser extent, last year) has had long-term ramifications for the fanbase. I was watching them play a game against KC (weeknight) and it looked like a crowd of 10-12,000, at most, those fans are still not wholeheartedly supporting perhaps the best team in the AL. I'd like to think the White Sox have $50 million lying around (from their profits of 05/06) that can be carried forward to remain competitive in 08/09 while getting younger, faster and more athletic. The problem is, the White Sox haven't gone out to "buy" talent at top dollar since the David Wells and Albert Belle signings. It's not the modus operandi of JR...in fact, because of the trading bringing in a lot of the players that won a World Series, it makes it more and more unlikely they would ever go the Cubs' freespending route. And KW probably feels he can "fix" this mess without spending money, because he was able to successfully put together a WS winner at $75 million.

Well, you know that something will come out in the media about the White Sox and KW/JR making a last-ditch attempt to sign MB to an extension, and we probably won't find the exact numbers, we'll be led to believe they made a legit attempt, although all signs point to him leaving. It's not quite so obvious as it was with Ordonez or Durham, but they have to sell Buehrle "high" while the no hitter is still fresh in everyone's minds. No matter what, they need to retool this ballclub. I was thinking, maybe you keep Iguchi and go after Ichiro, but I don't think either one of those guys (especially Ichiro) will be with us next year. OTOH, if they don't have any "name" Free Agents coming in next year and the payroll is scaled down to, say, $75-85 million, they're going to be very hard-pressed to get to 2 million in attendance in 2008. I've seen lots of band-aid solutions (Eckstein, Castillo, Vizquel) but none of those players are going to be part of the future competitive (hopefully) teams in 09 or 2010. If Fields and Sweeney tank this year, you're looking at replacing every position with the exception of C, 1B, DH, SS and possibly 2B (although any moves to improve the middle infield would be great, I'm not sure either will happen). They also will have to decide whether to offer Crede a contract for next year and get nothing at all for him in return...or keep him in 2008 and waste another $5 million, just like Pods' $2.9 million for 07.

QUOTE(DonnyDevito @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 09:25 AM) reinsdorf and kenny williams must not want to run a business because they're not very professional at all. greg walker must do special favors behind closed doors because it makes zero sense that he still has a job. i see 0 improvement from the hitters, in fact, i think they're getting worse. CAN HIS BEHIND ALREADY!!! what do we have to do? storm the cell??? More likely, it will be the no-shows and boo-birds than "storming the Cell"

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 09:35 AM) I agree with the title 100%... The team plays the same everyday, and the same exact posts get made everyday... Its like Groundhogs day without the Sonny and Cher. Where's Bill Murray when you need him? Probably in Wrigleyville. The Incredibly Shrinking Prospect List White Sox Baseball: How Not to Hit a Center Cut Fastball These Kids Can Likely Never Play Even MJ Could Hit .300 Against Our Bullpen Destination Unknown Lost, the Baseball Show 27 (Outs) The Chicago Generals

"I still keep positive, but there's no doubt you have to swing the bat. I don't have the answer. You got to ask the hitting coach and players what's going on because I see the same stuff day in and day out. You try to put different stuff and get it going. It gets you a little excited." Ozzie at chicagosports.com Haven't seen a quote like this recently, maybe some heat is starting to find its way to Walker? Sorry if this has already been quoted, I haven't read the whole thread recently.

QUOTE(Soxfest @ Jun 10, 2007 -> 07:05 PM) Clayton he was one of the most worthless SS Sox EVER had! Or Caruso after his rookie year. QUOTE(beck72 @ Jun 12, 2007 -> 06:04 AM) Not bad. I'd also go with Ichiro and Castillo 1 and 2. Except my 3rd free agent signing [not mine but what the sox would likely do] is Rowand for CF. And I'd resign Uribe. Ichiro RF Castillo 2b Thome DH Paulie 1B AJ C Rowand CF Fields 3b Sweeney LF Uribe SS Fields looks overmatched now. But another 1/2 year playing everyday will allow him the start 2008 putting up decent numbers. I agree. If the sox can get consistent offense from other spots such as Ichiro and Castillo, they'll be happy with Uribe's defense. I wouldn't be surprised if they "kicked the tires" on Castillo...but I think he's reaching a rapidly declining stage in his career, like Dye perhaps. He's not going to get you more than 20 steals, although the OBP would be much better, and his defense, even on grass/dirt, would be much better than that of Iguchi. If you really want to get Ichiro, I think you keep Iguchi around, although I would peg our chances at getting Ichiro at about 10-15%, because KW will point to the decreasing attendance and expected lack of season ticket renewals and say that he can't go out and spend money he doesn't have.

In early 2006, we would have laughed if Alfonseca had come in to close a game against us...now, it seems like we don't even have a pulse. Oh, how far we've fallen.

Plus tonight, Josh Fields in 2006, 3 for 20, for 2007, he's almost back to .150 this season, at .143.

Over/under on White Sox strikeouts against Hamels tomorrow? 12? 13?

I get the sense they don't want to keep yo-yoing Sweeney. Hasn't he basically been "treading water" since we sent him down? If we're going to bring up Sweeney, we might as well just ditch Mackowiak and let him play in LF everyday, for better or worse. Which means we might as well just DFA Pods and Erstad too. Good throw by Terrero...better arm than BA for sure, or Rowand.

It's actually BUCK-vich, not BOOK-vich, as the ESPN guys are pronouncing it. We might as well bring back Aardsma and MacDougal, unless we're worried they're going to lose what's left of their confidence.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:58 PM) We pinch hit a guy who should be on the DL. What the f*** is this, managing by blindfold. He told Ozzie he could play, same with Owens. KW doesn't have any better answers in the minors. Do you PH Andy Gonzalez or Owens there? Seriously?

QUOTE(rafacosta @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:38 PM) this is disgusting....why Terrero is not hitting in front of Uribe? Who would have imagined that we would be discussing whether Luis Terrero was our best hitter at any point in this season, or any season?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:34 PM) Why do you know that? Because I was a tutor for Roy Marble when he played at Univ. of Iowa...if you remember late 80's Iowa sports. Not sure how old you are. We're officially the worst offense is modern White Sox history. Bring back Carlos Martinez, Calderon, and gasp, Kenny Williams. Heck, I'd take Eddie Williams at 3B at this point, or Chris Brown.

3 for his last 33. Yikes.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:30 PM) Gooch is a nice guy. So is Jamaal Tinsley. Not. Oops, I meant Sam Mack, who robbed a Burger King.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 07:23 PM) not Greg Walker's fault at all though Fields now a frigid 5 for 40 (.125) in his MLB career and looking like Joe Borchard numbers would be a great achievement for him this summer. Sutcliffe just dissected Javier Vazquez tipping his pitches, I hope someone with the White Sox organization tries to address it, because they're calling every one of his pitches and the location from the broadcast booth.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Jun 11, 2007 -> 10:31 AM) I think people are crazily overestimating Jermaine Dye's value. He can't run and his OBP is below .300. He's shown some power this year, but that's all he brings to the table right now. There are a lot of guys that will be on the market with at least that skill set, and maybe more. The Reds alone will likely be trading Dunn and/or Griffey both of whom are more attractive. The Sox won't get either Billingsley or Broxton straight-up for Dye. They might be able to get Betemit for Dye, but that's it. I think people are going to very disappointed in what the Sox firesale brings back. Dye has a much more attractive contract than either of those two guys, however. They would only have to pay $2.3-3.5 million for the best RFer in baseball last season.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jun 10, 2007 -> 05:05 PM) Could you imagine how huge it would be for this team if Luis Terrero were actually good at baseball? He's an incredibly talented all around baseball player, his defensive ability and power could be huge for this team if he could display it consistently. His .270/.372/.595/.967 line thus far this season is quite promising, being able to plug him into RF/CF next season would make KW's job so much easier and allow him greater flexibility so he can go after a high priced player like Ichiro to fill the leadoff spot. I think he needs to be in CF, and the bigger power numbers have to come from LF and RF. Terrero seems like he SHOULD be able to hit 20-30 homers if he was just left alone out there for an entire season, he's a very good defender, hustles and has a pretty good arm as well. I wouldn't mind seeing a Sweeney, Terrero, Ichiro outfield, you're giving up a lot of power, but Fields/Konerko/Thome/AJ and whoever we have at SS and 2B should be able to help compensate for that. Anything to get younger and more athletic. When you have better team speed, the team just seems to come to life, as opposed to the "corpseball" sleepwalking appearance we've had for the past 4-5 months of regular season play.

That sums up Andy Gonzalez...warning track power, not much speed.

QUOTE(rafacosta @ Jun 10, 2007 -> 01:34 PM) He K'd...is this not worse than GO? He K'd agst a LH pitcher in a 90 mph...where is the bat speed? Nice work terrero... 89...

Anderson, Crede, Rowand (especially first two years), Sweeney, Borchard, Fields...can we get ONE player with a short, compact swing to develop in our system?

Well, even with those late 80's teams, you had players like Sosa, Bere, Alvarez, Thomas, Ventura, McDowell, Melido Perez, etc., to look forward to... With this organization right now, we'll be lucky if even two of our prospects make it.

This is already a long season...I guess it can't get much worse.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/42...T-jay10.article The White Sox have gotten so bad, so fast, that Mariotti is actually praising Ozzie (well, not for managing) and has no choice but to rip into KW. The funny thing is that the constant refrain from last year was "we were Soriano away from the playoffs" and now he's bringing out the "fluke" label. The 2005 White Sox were not a fluke...the Cardinals were last year, or the 2003 Marlins (although they had tons of pitching talent). You can't do much but laugh, though.